Understanding the Characteristics of the Truth of Origin Through Its Four Aspects

By cultivating the sixteen aspects of the Four Noble Truths, one can clearly understand the characteristics of the Four Noble Truths: through the four aspects of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, one clearly understands the characteristic of the truth of suffering; through the four aspects of cause, accumulation, arising, and condition, one clearly understands the characteristic of the truth of origination; through the four aspects of cessation, tranquility, excellence, and relinquishment, one clearly understands the characteristic of the truth of cessation; through the four aspects of path, suchness, practice, and emergence, one clearly understands the characteristic of the truth of the path. Among these, the contemplation of the truth of suffering through ten aspects and the entry into the four aspects of the truth of suffering have already been explained. Below is an explanation of how to cultivate the four aspects of the truth of origination in order to clearly understand its characteristic.

Original text:复由四行于苦谛相正觉了已。次复观察如是苦谛。何因何集何起何缘。由断彼故苦亦随断。如是即以集谛四行了集谛相。谓了知爱能引苦故。说名为因。既引苦已。复能招集令其生故。说名为集。既生苦已令彼起故。说名为起。复于当来诸苦种子能摄受。故次第招引诸苦集。故说名为缘。

Explanation: After correctly and truthfully awakening to the characteristic of the truth of suffering through the four aspects of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self, one again contemplates what the cause of the appearance of this truth of suffering is, how it accumulates, how it arises, and upon what condition it appears. Only when these are eliminated does suffering cease accordingly. Therefore, one must contemplate the four aspects of the truth of origination in order to eliminate the characteristic of the truth of origination.

The cause of the truth of origination is craving (tṛṣṇā). Because of craving, grasping (upādāna) arises; whether grasping is attained or not attained, there is the mark of suffering. The existence of future lives appears, the mark of birth manifests, and the mark of suffering appears. Only by eliminating the root of suffering—craving and attachment—can suffering be eliminated. The cause of craving is feeling (vedanā), and the cause of feeling is contact (sparśa). Contact and feeling may occur, but if at the time of contact and feeling there is no craving, no mind engaged with what is contacted and felt, then the suffering of future lives will not appear, and the truth of origination ceases. Since present craving is the cause that draws forth suffering, and the accumulation of craving can cause suffering to be born, the accumulation of craving is precisely the accumulation of suffering. After suffering is born and the feeling of suffering manifests, this is called the arising of suffering. Because craving can gather and hold the seeds of future suffering, and what craving attracts and gathers are all seeds of suffering capable of producing future suffering, craving, grasping, existence, birth, and aging sequentially attract and draw forth the accumulation of all sufferings; therefore craving is the condition for suffering.

The truth of origination is one link in the twelve links of dependent origination. The path to liberation—both the śrāvaka dharma and the pratyekabuddha dharma mutually contain each other and have commonalities. There is no independent pratyekabuddha dharma, nor an independent śrāvaka dharma; the only difference lies in the relative depth of the levels the two dharmas involve, but liberation is no different.

Original text:复有差别。谓了知爱是取因故。复能招集。即以其取为因有故。复能生起有为上首。当来生故。又能引发以生为缘。老病死等诸苦法故。随其所应。当知说名因、集、起、缘四种行。

Explanation: There are differences among the four aspects, with different sequences: knowing that craving is the cause of grasping, and that craving can further attract and gather; grasping in turn becomes the cause for future existence, thereby giving rise to future existence; with existence as the condition, the future five aggregates are born; and it can further induce aging, sickness, death, and other great masses of suffering with birth as the condition. According to the sequence of the four aspects, they are respectively named: cause, accumulation, arising, and condition.

Original text:复有差别。谓正了知烦恼随眠。附属所依爱随眠等。是当来世后有生因。又正了知彼所生缠。随其所应是集起缘。谓后有爱能招引故。即是其集此后有爱。复能发起喜贪俱行爱。此喜贪俱行爱复与多种彼彼喜爱为缘。如是依止爱随眠等及三种缠。能生后有。及能发起诸爱差别。是故说名因集起缘。如是行者由四种行了集谛相。

Explanation: There are further differences among the four aspects. One correctly and truthfully knows that the latent dispositions of afflictions (anuśaya) are subordinate to and dependent upon the latent dispositions of craving; only by relying on the latent dispositions of craving do the latent dispositions of afflictions exist. Without craving there are no afflictions; craving is also the cause of afflictions, and eliminating craving eliminates afflictions. The latent dispositions of craving are the cause for the birth of existence in future lives. One correctly knows the afflictive entanglements (paryavasthāna) produced by those latent dispositions of craving; corresponding to them one by one are the three aspects of accumulation, arising, and condition. The afflictive entanglements can gather the seeds of suffering, can manifest suffering, and are the condition for the production of the feeling of suffering.

Because the latent dispositions of afflictions can attract the craving for future existence, they can accumulate the craving for future existence, and can also give rise to the craving that operates together with delight and greed. This craving operating together with delight and greed can in turn serve as the condition for various kinds of fondness. In this way, relying on the latent dispositions of craving and so forth, together with the three kinds of entanglements, there can be the birth of future existence and the arising of the various differentiated forms of craving; therefore they are named the four aspects of cause, accumulation, arising, and condition. Because there are latent dispositions of craving, there will be afflictive entanglements—the entanglement of delight and the entanglement of greed. With these three kinds of entanglements, future existence will certainly be born and suffering will arise. In this way, the practitioner clearly understands the characteristic of the truth of origination through the four aspects.